Roll Call: Black Members of Congress
Benjamin Sterling Turner
Congressman Benjamin Turner, the first Black representative from Alabama, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 1871 to March 1873 (42nd Congress). While enslaved, Turner managed a hotel and stable and, by 1870, had accumulated enough wealth to...
Jefferson Franklin Long
Congressman Jefferson Long, born into slavery, was the first Black representative of Georgia and the only Black American to represent Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. He served for one session of the 41st Congress (January 1871-March...
Joseph Hayne Rainey
Congressman Joseph Rainey, born into slavery, was the first Black representative from South Carolina and the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to fill a vacant seat in the 41st Congress and served from 1870 to 1879...
John Willis Menard*
John Willis Menard was the first Black man ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives though he was never seated in Congress. In November 1868, Menard won a special election to fill the vacant seat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Louisiana....
Hiram Rhodes Revels
In February 1870, Senator Hiram Revels became the first Black American to serve in Congress when he filled the seat of former Mississippi senator and Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Revels served in the U.S. Senate for the remainder of the 41st Congress...